Caribou protection plan spawns racist backlash in northeast B.C.

By Sarah Cox
The Narwhal
April 16, 2019
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada West

Misinformation is running rampant, but Treaty 8 chiefs say the proposed plan for the Peace region would not close any existing mining operations, affect approved pipelines or restrict backcountry access for activities such as mountain biking, fishing or hunting. Two Treaty 8 First Nations chiefs are alarmed by the racism and misinformation that has surfaced in recent weeks during consultations about draft agreements to save B.C.’s endangered caribou herds from local extinction. “All three of them bands will sell the lives of all those caribou for a few bucks in their pockets,” says one Facebook post with 20 likes. “I guarantee the Indians don’t know who they signed up,” says another Facebook post. “Cause there [sic] fuckin stupid . . . There [sic] using the Indians and there [sic] too dumb to know it.” “Its [sic] not about the caribou,” says yet another Facebook post with 19 likes. “Wake up and follow the money.”

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